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Tips: What to do if your flight is delayed or canceled

Tips Sign up for flight alerts with your airline. The earlier you know there's a problem, the more time you have to find other alternatives. If your flight is canceled, go get in line -- but also call the

Tips: What to do if your flight is delayed or canceled

American Airlines ticketing agent Cody Dear helps John Mejia check in for his flight to Miami at a nearly deserted terminal D at Dallas-Fort Worth International airport, Monday, Nov. 25, 2013. "We would normally be slammed with the flight to Miami, but because of all the cancellations its been slow," Dear said. Winter weather has caused travel disruptions throughout the area including the cancellation and delays of hundreds of flights. (AP Photo/Brandon Wade) ORG XMIT: TXBW106(Photo: Brandon Wade AP)

Here are some tips on what you can do to minimize the impact of delays or cancellations:

Flight alerts: Sign up for flight alerts with your airline. The earlier you know there's a problem, the more time you have to find other alternatives.

Watch for options to change your plans: Pay attention to the weather, and if you see conditions are going to be bad check your airline's website to see if they have enacted a flexible rebooking policy. Many airlines do so in poor weather. In a nutshell, the waivers allow fliers ticketed to certain airports to make one change to their itineraries with no penalty. So, if you can fly a day or two later — or earlier — it may be worth changing your ticket to move your travel away from when the storm is expected to be worst. Or, if you want to postpone your trip altogether, the policies sometimes waive the change fee and give you the option of using the value of your ticket toward a future flight.

Flexibility helps: If your flight to LaGuardia is canceled, for example, ask if there's a flight to Newark or JFK, or even a more distant regional airport such as Long Island or White Plains. It may be inconvenient, but it could be less of an inconvenience than not making it at all.

Flexibility helps II: The same goes for the return. Stuck in Chicago? A flight to your hometown might be canceled, but maybe catch a flight to a neighboring city. As long as you can arrange transportation, it may trump being stuck on the road.